Pu of the day: the mostly ill reviewed 2007 imperial concubine.-I bought this tea because it was inexpensive and had a whimsical name; I guess whatever marketing technique they were using worked on me.

A small sample of the spent leaves. Nothing particularly special about them. They are medium to small in size and obviously not from an older plant.

4.5 grams for a 120 ml gaiwan. I rinsed it for 7 seconds with boiling water, then I took the top off of my kettle and let the water cool for approximately one minuet- each infusion, with the exception of the 4th and 5th brews.

1st brew: 30s- a hint of lemon. Citrus was the predominant tasting note. Astringency was there, but not unbearable or unpleasant.

2nd brew: 15s- might have actually been too long. I might go for 10s next time; quite astringent, bitter, and slightly floral. The tea was tolerable; but not particularly great.

3rd brew: 45s- Best brew by far. It tasted like a sweet and exotic spice, with a tinge of citrus now falling into the background. The tea also had a pretty decent hui gan. The astringency had weakened quite a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed this infusion.

4th brew: 1 min- similar to the 3rd brew, almost a clone- only weaker. Exotic spice was still the predominant note, although the taste was simply not as strong.

5th brew: 1.5 min- Weak vegetable water. Not a bad or offensive brew, but I decided to end the session on this note.

If every brew were exactly like the 3rd infusion- I would stock up on this cake. However, I think one is enough for now. Once you get past the 2nd infusion; it's a pretty decent tea. There was absolutely no smoke, which I like, and limited hui gan. All and all, this tea was pretty good for a young sheng.

for better or for worse, my original review of this tea was stalinized ...

Looks like a year+ has not completely brought it out of the dark side, but it might be improving. I still have some, so I'll see if I can bring it out for a revisit. Perhaps an annual visit to the concubine is in order. Check this spot in 2014 for it's 7th year anniversary.

I received an order of Pu-erh tea today from RJ-Tea-House.http://stores.ebay.com/RJ-Tea-HouseAlso some free samples of "organic mini pu-erh cake". 6g in each box, Just the right size to plop into the teapot for 5-7 cups of tea.(Objects in your monitor may appear larger than actual size) I didn't detect any shavings of Angles wings or notes of artichoke.I didn't detect any smokiness or bitterness ether. It was earthy with a sweet aftertaste (hui gan) that leaves you smacking your lips until you can get that second cup.I give them two thumbs up.

This was my last free sample of "organic mini pu-erh cake". 6gOnce I'd had my first cup I went online and reordered (not the right word but you know) My money this time.They're so dam convenient, no dragging out the scales. Just plop one into the pot. Nice on those days when you can't make up your mind.So much Tea so little time.

Hi All, I'm looking for a 150-200ml Gaiwan thats more of a match to my cups & bowl below. I'm looking for something large, this one is 4-1/2 oz. But it's out of stock.I saw a 6 oz with a little too much red, but it was also out of stock.All leads will be appreciated.

Last edited by nonc_ron on Apr 26th, '10, 15:47, edited 1 time in total.

Today's puerh (from a URL tasting organized by the tea group on egullet) was the first time I've take one tea and compared it between gaiwan and seasoned yixing pot. The term 'seasoned yixing' should be taken lightly here: this is a very cheap pot ($6.99) that has been simmered in hot water, simmered in tea, and had a lot of tea steeped in it overnight--part of a redone seasoning program for all of my clay pots. But it is genuine unglazed clay, holds water and heat, and tea can be made in it.

The tea was spring 2009 Lao Ban Zhang Mao Cha Sheng Pu-erh (loose tea) from norbutea.com. I used 1.6 grams leaf (did trade a few straight overly long leaves for some slightly curled ones to get all to fit without breaking leaves), trying to keep about 1g leaf to 1 oz water.

50 mL water close to boiling

One very small gaiwanOne very small 'yixing' pot

2 20-second rinses first (this tea has a strong bitter start)5-second infusions thereafter: wait 5 seconds, start pouring, takes about 10 seconds to get all out), have gone up to about 12 previously, so far only up to 5 on this pair, but running out of space for more liquid even with these tiny vessels

Leaves are variable sizes, mostly intact, twisted and curled but not rolled tightly. The liquor is yellow, sweet, delicious, some vegetal and herbacious notes, a bittersweet undertone, little astringency, and really no earthy or smoky notes.

As for the gaiwan vs yixing, I found the sweetness and liquor seemed slightly stronger from the gaiwan, as though the yixing clay is keeping some sweet for itself. Just a tiny difference, not so obvious in every infusion, but when I could detect a difference, it was the gaiwan-brewed that was sweeter.

Astringency - NoneSmoke - Small (3.5/10)Dryness - Moderately Dry (4/10)Mouthfeel - Heavy (8/10)Hui gan - None (1/10)Flavor - Apart from an average dui wei presence tasting something like enoki, this cake has some interesting flavors such as sap, plantain and bamboo scent. It is rich and dry, coarse and heavy.Overall value - GoodPurchase again - Probably not (simply because i like trying lots of different pu`s )

On the 4th brew, it started taking a much different taste. Earthy and very woodsy forest tastes started presenting themselves for the remaining brews and the dui wei greatly diminished.